AP Psych Unit 0

Hindsight bias

Thinking that you could predict unpredictable outcomes all along after seeing the result of the outcome

Confirmation Bias

Trying to exclusively search for information that support your beliefs and stance and ignoring contradictory information

Overconfidence

Thinking that your abilities or judgements are better than they actually are

Peer reviewers

Experts who check and review scientific articles before they get published

Theory

An explanation that tries to explain behaviors and events and is backed by evidence and reasoning

Hypothesis

A testable prediction for an observation

Falsifiable

An adjective given to something that can be experimentally proven false

Operational Definition

A description of how variables are measured

Replication

Repeating a study to see if the results of the original study can be replicated

Case Study

An in-depth investigation of a person or small group

Meta-Analysis

Combing the results of multiple independent studies in the same field to draw an overarching conclusion between all of them

Naturalistic Observation

Studying behavior in its natural setting without any interference

Survey

A questionnaire that collects self-reported behaviors, thoughts, and traits from a group a people

Social desirability bias

Lying to an interviewer or on a survey rather than telling the truth to make yourself look more favorable

Self-report bias

When people give inaccurate information about themselves

Experimentor Bias

Researchers skewing the results of studies and experiments to fit their biases and expectations

Population

The entire group that conclusions are being drawn to

Sample

A subset chosen from the population

Sampling Bias

A sample with selected members that are unrepresentative of the entire population

Random Sample

A sample where all members completely random and had an equal chance of being chosen are

Convenience Sampling

Choosing members for a sample just because they are convenient and easy to reach

Representative Sample

Sample that represents the population

Experimental Methodology

Manipulating variables to see if they influence things to measure cause and effect

Non-Experimental Methodology

Observing and measuring variables without directly manipulating them

Correlation

How things are related to each other

Correlation Coefficient

Measure from 1 to +1 to show the correlation between two things

Variable

Things that can change in an experiment

Scatterplot

Graph using dots to show trends between two variables

Illusory Correlation

Falsely perceiving a relationship between two variables

Directionality Problem

Knowing a relationship exists between two variables but not knowing whether the first variable causes change in the other or vice versa

Third Variable Problem

When a third unknown variable makes it seem like two variables have a relationship

Regression Towards the Mean

Extreme scores dropping to the mean score after measured again

Experiment

Method of seeing whether variables bring change to each other to see cause and effect

Experimental Group

Group in a sample that is exposed to the independent variable

Control Group

Group in a sample that is not exposed to the independent variable

Independent Variable

Variable that is manipulated by experimenters to see its effects on other things

Dependent Variable

Variable that is measured to see how it changes due to the effects of independent variables

Random Assignment

Method of assigning members of a sample into different groups randomly

Single-Blind Procedure

When participants of an experiment are unaware whether they are getting the treatment or not

Double-Blind Procedure

When neither the participants or researchers of an experiment know who is getting the treatment or a placebo

Placebo Effect

When intended results from the person taking the treatment occur even if they use a fake treatment

Confounding Variable

An outside variable that is not the independent variable that can produce effects that can lead to misleading relationships

Experimenter Bias

When researchers let their biases and expectations skew the results of studies

Validity

Whether a study evaluates something that it claims to

Quantitative Research

Research that uses numbers and data

Qualitative Research

Research that uses non-numerical data through descriptions and experiences

Likert Scales

A rating scale used to see the extent of how someone views something

Institutional Review

A committee that reviews whether research experiments are subject to ethical and safety concerns

Informed Consent

Making sure that research participants have enough information about the study they are going to participate in before they actually make a decision to join

Informed Assent

An agreement for minors or people that are unable to legally consent

Protection from Harm

Making sure that research participants are physically and mentally safe

Confidentiality

An obligation to keep research participant's data and information confidential

Research Confederates

People acting as research participants but are actually secretly working for the researchers

Debriefing

Explaining the purpose of a study to research participants after it has ended

Descriptive Statistics

Statistics that are used to describe datasets

Measure of Central Tendency

A number that represents the typical value of a dataset

Median

The middle-most score in a set of data that is ordered to least to greatest

Mean

The average of all scores in a set of data

Mode

The score that appears the highest amount of times in a set of data

Percentile Rank

A specific score that shows the percentage of scores in a group that an individual is at or fell below